Bottle opener



R. M. BROWN BOTTLE OPENER Nov. 2, 1943.

Filed Feb. 9, 1942 Patented Nov. 2, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT oi-rice BOTTLE OPENER Raymond M. Brown, Newport News, Va., assignor to Brown Manufacturing Company, Inc., Newport News,Va., a corporation of Virginia Application February 9, 1942, Serial No. 430,142

3 Claims.

' terminating in an arcuate keen edged prying lip adapted to engage the base of the flange of the crown cap, distorting said flange when the bottle is depressed as a lever, sufliciently to unseat the cap.

In practice, the curvature of the prying lip is the arc of a larger'circle than that of the flange of the bottle cap so that while the lip underlies the base of the cap for quite a circumferential extent, it first attacks those flutes which are in contact with the apex of the lip and progressively engages the flange through a wider are as the cap begins to yield.

If the bottle is depressed with normal deliberateness so as to permit this progressive aclatter automatically falls out of the bottle opener when the bottle is withdrawn.

Howevenparticularly in connection with self service coolers, the bottle is sometimes pressed down so suddenly that the prying lip acts substantially simultaneously throughout its entire arcuate extent on the flange of the cap, bending the disk of the cap back toward the fulcrum pad along a line which is substantially the chord subtending the ends of the arc of contact between the lip and the flange of the cap.

This causes a sharp localized outward bulge of the flange of the cap in the direction of the produced ends of said chord, which frequently causes the cap to stick in the opener, so that the next customer finds an impediment to the correct insertion of his bottle and has first to explore the bottle opener with his fingers and to remove the caught cap.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a bottle opener of the type described, having one or more back stops adjacent the prying lip and slightly spaced therefrom which permit the prying lip to exercise its function of detaching the cap, but which may contact with the flange of the cap as to spread andthereby limit the extent to which it can be flared, thus preventing the bending of the disk of the cap under any circumstances and particularly under the conditions of suddenoperation above referred to.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pair of spaced back stops preferably symmetrically arranged with respect to the apex of the prying lip, permitting the latter, if necessary, to bulge the flange between the back stops by drawing upon the fullness of the flutes of the flange beyond said back stops, the metal moving.

slidably between said back stops and the bottle mouth in producing this bulge.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bottle opener of the type described with one or more back stops suitably positioned back of the prying lip to prevent the user of the bottle opener from pushing the lip of the bottle farther in the opener on a second stroke and thereby wedging the lip of the bottle in the opener, in many cases breaking the locking rim of the bottle. v

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds; H

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the following specification, and throughout the several figures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to denote identical parts: I c

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bottle opener, embodying the features of the subject invention; Figure 2 is a vertical median section through the same;

Figure 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 Referring now in detail to the several figures,

the numeral l represents the frame of the bottle opener as a whole, which has the upper and lower base portions 2 and 3 preferably apertured as at 4, to receive screwsfor securing the bottle opener vertically to a support. The intermediate portion of the frame is formed as a salient angle having the upper face 5 and lower face 5.

The lower face 6 of the salient angle is formed with an arcuate opening I designed to admit a portion of the capped mouth of a bottle and is so shaped as to define at its lower side a fulcrum pad 8 adapted to be pressed against the central portion of the crown cap, and defining along its outer side a surrounding centering member :5, the upper portion of which extends rearwardly, forming a ledge ID, the inner edge of which turns slightly upwardly and forms a keen edged prying. lip ll adapted to engage the base of the flange of the crown cap. The prying lip H is formed with the curvature of a larger circle than the circumference of the crown cap so that while it underlies the base of the flange of the crown cap through quite an arcuate extent, the apex of the prying lip is in more immediate contact with said flange and comes first into prying action with said flange when the bottle is depressed as a lever, the portions of said prying lip more remote from said apex coming progressively into active engagement with the flange as the cap begins to yield. Normally, that is to say, when the bottle is pressed down with a steady pressure, the flange of the cap is spread by'the action of the prying lip without deforming the substantially planiform disk portion of the crown cap. However, if the bottle is forced down suddenly, the action of the prying lip is substantially simultaneously throughout its entire arou- This is prevented in the present invention by the provision of the projections or back stops I! which are fO?Iled integrally on the inner side of the upper a the apex of the pryinglip. Said back stops are of a height greater than that of the upturned edge of the prying lip II and are preferably of a height at least equal to the depth of the flange of the bottle cap. Said back stops are spaced ce of the salient angle preferably spaced apart symmetrically with respect to In Figure 5, a modified form of bottle opener is shown, in which the upper face I3 of the salient angle is expanded transversely to form a plane upon which advertising matter may be carried. The lateral extensions M of this plate, to a greater extent, occlude the side openings of the salient portion of the bottle opener so that if a detached crown cap becomes stuck in the bottle opener shown in Figure 5, it becomes a nuisance to dislodge it. While, therefore, the improvement of the present invention is desirable in either form of bottle opener as shown, it becomes a practical necessity with respect to that form shown in Figure 5.

Another important function of the back stop It is to prevent the locking rim of the bottle being broken by being wedged against the prying lip in the event that the user of the bottle opener takes a second try at removing the cap, under the mistaken impression that it was not removed at the first attempt. In such case, the cap has already been lifted, exposing the bare glass in the zone of the circumferential crease at the base of the locking rim. In the old form of the invention the prying lip might catch in this crease, upon the second attempt to open the bottle, chipping the locking rim. By, the present improvement the back stops l2 engage the bulge of the locking rim and hold the circumferential crease at the base of said locking rim away from contact with the prying lip.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical form of the invention, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the specific details of con- 1. Bottle opener comprising a frame including supporting end portions in a common plane and an intermediate portion diverted from said plane forming a salient having upper and lowerfaces integrally joining said end portions, the lower away from the edge of the prying lip a suiIl-- cient distance to form a channel between said back stops and prying lip to permit the prying lip to progressively spread the flange of the cap sufliciently to dislodge the cap in the manner. above set forth. The purpose of the backstops is to engage the outside of the flange when it tion and prying lip to permit expansion of the has been normally expanded by the prying lip to limit the amount of flare that can be imparted to it, even under the conditions of sudden depression of the bottle, as above explained. The back stops do not prevent the-apical portion of the prying lip from producing as much of a. w

bulge of the flange of the crown cap between said back stops as may be necessary, by drawing fuilness from the flutes of the metal in that portion of the flange outside of the back stops, the metal being free to move slidably in a circumferential direction between said back stops and the bottle mouth.

The back stops l2, therefore, effectively pre-.

facebeing formed with an opening, a fulcrum pad extending forwardly into said opening at the lower side, the outer side of said opening defining an encompassing centerin member having the 50 upper part extending rearwardly terminating in an arcuate prying lip, and a projection from the inner side of the upper face of said salient adjacent said prying lip, spaced therefrom a sufficient distance to form a channel between said projecbottle cap flange by said prying lip to the extent to permit detachment of said cap, but engageable by said flange when said extent of expansion is reached, to prevent excessive expansion of said flange. I

2. Bottle opener comprising a frame including supporting end portions in a common plane and an intermediate portion diverted from said plane to form a salient having upper andrlower faces integrally joining said end portions, the lower face being formed with an opening, a fulcrum pad extending forwardly into said opening at the lower side, the outer side of said opening defining an encompassing centering member having the upper part extending rearwardly and terminating in an arcuate prying lip, and spaced projections from the inner sideof the upper face of said salient positioned adjacent said prying lip on opposite sides of the apex of said lip, spaced apart 7 therefrom a suflicient'distanoe to permit expansion of the bottle'cap flange by said prying lip to the extent to permit detachment of said cap but engageable by said flange when said extent of expansion is reached to prevent excessive expansion of said flange,

3. Bottl opener comprising a support'having an extending portion forming a salient having an opening, a fulcrum pad extending forwardly into said opening at the lower side, the outer side of said opening defining an encompassing centering member having the upper part extending rearwardly, terminating in an arcuate prying lip and a projection from the inner side of the upper face of said salient adjacent said prying lip spaced apart therefrom a sufiicient distance to permit expansion of the bottle cap flange by said prying 11p to the extent to permit detachment of said cap, but engageable by said flange when said extent of expansion is reached to prevent excessive expansion of said flange.

RAYMOND M. BROWN. 

